Dc1 - no absolutely not. No chocolate until well after 1st birthdayCan't honestly remember with dc2 & 3Dc4 - was past caring, probably dc1, 2 & 3 had been feeding him chocolate from hours old (joking obviously but you get my point ). Almost certainly he'd had a chocolate button or 2 by 7mths as he was given whatever we were eating to eat.

Stand your ground! My lad is 21 months now and for the second Easter running I still refuse to give him chocolate. My view is that he's not even old enough to really know what it is or ask for it, so why would I give it to him? Sugar will do him no good AT ALL. It's my decision and as far as I'm concerned everyone else can respect my wishes.

What really gets my goat is that that mothers get flak for everything they do wrong, yet when you take a decision which is purely for your own child's good, people seem determined to see it as something else. If I had a pound for every minute I'd had to spend politely listening to relatives and friends telling me it "won't do any harm" to give my child chocolate, cake, sweets, etc. I'd be a rich woman. Maybe it won't do any harm (oh, apart from rotting his teeth, which are blooming difficult to clean properly in a 21 month old) but on the other hand, items like chocolate, mini rolls, etc won't do your child ANY GOOD either. So why would you give them stuff like that before they are old enough to even ask?

Only today I had a relative round with a richly iced coffee cake (FFS!) saying "oh well he can have a little bit, can't he?" My answer was, NO. I'm sure some people think I'm an extremist but don't give in, when your own instincts (and NHS advice) is not to give your child unnecessary sugar at that age.

We haven't given DS (2.3) any 'straight' chocolate yet, though he has had a taste of hot chocolate and a bit of chocolate cake at parties. We were tres strict about all processed food right through til 18/mo 2yr because it takes that long for a gut to mature and we saw no harm in taking it slow. He's very adventurous and will try anything we're having - the strictness was easy because DP and I are boring health conscious so don't eat processed sugar, super-refined carbs etc. Now he's a bit bigger and food is becoming a more important part of his social experience we are quite relaxed so happy for him to have cake and so on, but haven't changed what we buy for home, so it's all quite whole-food lentil weavery type stuff at home.

That said, chocolate is still off the menu because it contains caffeine and another stimulant (I think it's called theo-bromeine or similar) in large enough quantities that if you gave a race horse a mars bar, it'd show up on a doping test. My line about this to anyone offering him chocolate is that he doesn't need any extra stimulation, though I should confess that it is pleasing to turn down a food which is really nutritionally crap in general terms (they are NEVER offering the much touted 'two or three squares of quality chocolate' which are supposed to be good for us, IME).

Obvs this doesn't go down brilliantly with everyone and I particularly get written off as uptight (which irritates slightly as DP has exactly the same view) but I couldn't give a fuck, TBH. The only people who are bothered by it are people who have a problem themselves - they are either so caught up in the 'treat' idea about food that they think DS is somehow 'deprived' (which always makes me think they really should widen their ideas about both 'treats' and 'deprivation') or they are trying to 'buy' DS's affection/ approval (which I find slightly sad and misguided).

We used to experience more tension from others around this than we do now - no one even bothered to ask about whether he was 'allowed' an Easter Egg this year, and no one bought him an egg. We were at friends for Easter lunch and an egg was sitting on the table for people to help themselves to. DS didn't even recognise it as food, so there was no awkward moment. Stick to your guns, OP, and don't let anyone see you get wound up about it- treat your boundaries like they are facts of life and not up for negotiation and people soon look for something else to criticise your parenting for just give up and move on.

Although I was cross at the woman feeding DS chocolate, I've just remembered telling another Mum that DS had had a lick of a dark chocolate bar that I was eating. He had just been weaned at 6 months, was trying to sample everything, so I thought what the heck and let him gum it very briefly. Fuck me, what a catsbumface. You'd have thought I'd said I was mixing nutella and haribo into his morning porridge.

I was so pleased my DC was dairy intolerant and would have thrown it all up and I would have gone crazy when these things came up. Mil and my DM would have happily force fed her all sorts of shite behind my back. Now she is 5 and gorged herself yesterday but mostly has a sensible attitude to all food. She tries new foods and is superbly active and healthy. Moderation is key to everything.

Like some others on this thread, I gave DS whatever we ate from 6 months old (BLW). Bits of choc and cake as well as broccoli and peach.

It is in our biology to enjoy sweet foods (for babies even more so), and I can only imagine that the (evil?) people who are gifting choc eggs to 6 month olds want to give the babies they love the wonderful feeling and experience of chocolate melting in their mouths (even if it's just a tiny bit at a time). If you do not want to give your baby chocolate - don't. Say no thanks or eat it yourself. It's like with any unwanted gift, I guess.

Have to add that I was largely denied sweets in my childhood (later my mum said that she was concerned about my dental health, etc.) and I can see how it contributed towards my eating disorders in later life. I know some others with the same history and problems, so I would be very wary of overly restricting sweets etc. It is a normal human craving, and nothing to be ashamed of. If denied, it can with some people become an obsession..

I would say everything's fine in moderation and occasional days of OTT chocolate are fine, as well (and fondly remembered by DH, who's a healthy eater, from his childhood).

Exactly toysrluv. When our lad is old enough to ask for things like that we will let him try them and do so without comment either negative or positive. He has had the odd bit of cake or crisp whenever he has been in reaching distance of them but not gone mad for them and I didn't make a fuss about it, as he would pick up on that too.

Probably the best influence in your child's life is your own eating habits. If you don't gorge on chocolate and biscuits and don't have them in the house as a matter of course, then your kids will come to see that as normal, and view them as an occasional treat.

However as per the OP's query, at 7 months I think it's wrong wrong wrong.